mahdnc

From what I have read on this thread over the years, you are not alone. There are quite a few people who have complained about the same thing with no remedy posted that fixes it. The workaround is simply to monitor this thread. Some of us that do receive the emails will on occasion not even recognize that there is a PUP activity in it and confuse it with the other marketing emails that we receive from Celebrity. Another reason to monitor this thread.

We've been to the ABC islands on several 14 night Caribbean sailings when Celebrity was doing them and it is a favorite of ours (both the itinerary and the islands). The standard of living is much higher than what you see on many of the other Caribbean islands so they present themselves very well. Nice and clean. Although the 3 islands have strong Dutch ties, they are all markedly different. When I have asked Dutch crew members onboard Celebrity ships what their assessment of the islands are. They often say that Aruba is the most Americanized and that they prefer Curacao because it is the most "Dutch". The Americanization comment about Aruba is a recognition that it is the most commercially developed island and of course attracts the most American tourists. When I think of Aruba, I think of its many fine beaches. Bonaire has world class scuba diving and snorkeling. We have dove Bonaire and the Caribbean quite a bit and I would agree with that assessment. So it's not a surprise that Bonaire has built its economy around tourism and has taken steps to preserve the marine ecosystem around the island by declaring much of it as national marine park dating back to 1979. Where Aruba has many big name hotel resorts, Bonaire is nearly devoid of them--preferring to keep the hotel resorts smaller and locally owned. If you don't dive or snorkel, there are fun things to do on the island itself. Diving the Salt Pier at Bonaire We mainly have done diving at Curacao but what I can tell you is that the capital city of Curacao where the ship pier is located is absolutely charming and we much prefer it over Oranjestad in Aruba. Willemstad, Curacao

So I guess he married "up"? Your answer is going to be "in more ways than one".

I am not suggesting that Xcel will have this, but here is one manifestation of the ship-shore line blurring that was put on the new Utopia of the Seas: link

Sheeesh. However you brought up another good point, with so many passengers running around with drink packages you wonder how much the casino really is giving out "free" drinks.

I received my clarification follow up email last night at 7:14pm. Here is a screenshot of the entire email (tap or click on the image to make it bigger). I was impressed with the wording in the first paragraph.

1. Sun Nov 24 Port Kelang It’s quite possible that Solstice will have its first Evening Chic night on Day 3 (Nov 25) but since it’s an overnight port day when passengers may stay ashore for dinner, I don’t think that’ll happen. 2. Fri Nov 29 At Sea This is at the midpoint of your cruise 3. Wed Dec 4 At Sea The other likely date for your third and final Evening Chic night aboard Solstice is the following day at Mormugao. But I’m guessing it’ll be scheduled during your last Sea Day.

You can take that logic a step further to explain the disappearance of the lounge chairs in the balconies…

I could learn from you, John! Onyx!!

I don't know how to check it. However it is printed on your Xpress Pass when you complete the check-in process. That's how we know. But then again, we are always a lowly Pearl. So no big surprise for us.

The other thought I had on your point is that you are automatically signed up for the Blue Chip Club when you play (perhaps the lone exception to that is if you don't hand your SeaPass card to the dealer when you sit down at a table). So in that sense, everyone playing in the casino is a Blue Chip Club member.

Yes, anyone actively playing in the casino gets free drinks.

Book A1 cabin at the A2 price. Some have said that A2 must be available in order to do this. All this is supposed to be requested at the time of booking. I can’t remember if this has been fixed yet, but the Captains Club one cat upgrade cannot be done online even when you enter your Captains Club number. Because I usually book FV cabins, I haven’t gotten the CC upgrade in 20+ years. Finally was able to get the benefit when we booked our C1 cabin on Solstice for next year’s TP.

We were able to order from the MDR menu at Blu during our Solstice sailing this past Dec/Jan

Here is the official Celebrity chart showing the allowable upgrades by ship class (link to the document). According to the chart, the answer to your question should be "yes".

Probably a few veteran Silhouette and Millennium cruisers, too.

We had dinner on the night before the cruise at Osteria Positano. It is a reasonably priced Italian restaurant at Miami Beach. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant which was free because of my wife’s loyalty status. The Marriott also had a Starbucks where breakfast could be purchased cheaply. We used an Uber XL to take us on there 16 minute ride from the hotel to the port on embarkation day. We needed a large vehicle for all our luggage because we don’t pack light. We also took two people in our Uber whom we met at the hotel to the pier.

Here is the website for the "revamped" Celebrity Cruises Blue Chip Club. It looks like our perks as Pearl members are untouched. Whew!

Maybe if the Loonie appreciates a lot you can get that price.

I think Celebrity is trying to tell you something....

Actually I prefer mountains over buttes. However with all the photos from me that you have seen, I can understand why you said that. Our last two major national park vacations have been in the winter and so we have gone to the Desert Southwest. That's in addition to visiting the five Utah national parks in the summer a few years ago. However my favorite area is the Sierra Nevada which includes Yosemite NP, Kings Canyon NP, and Sequoia NP. And, even though it is not a national park, we have been visiting Lake Tahoe in the summer and winter during the past couple of years. Rubicon Bay, Lake Tahoe, Jul 4 2022 We did a 2 week land vacation in Washington state many years ago when we only one kid and she was only a couple years old. Besides visiting Mt Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, we spent a few days in Olympic National Park. It is a spectacular park and I am jealous of Seattle being so close to it. Olympic is composed of 3 distinct really amazing areas: 1. the mountain region (think Hurricane Ridge and Mt Olympus and I believe glaciers are there), a large rain forest (esp the beautiful Hoh Rainforest), and gorgeous coastlines (unspoiled beaches, sea stacks resembling the Oregon coast, tide pools with star fish). You will LOVE it. In 2026 we are likely to forgo cruising that year and do a 2 week land vacation to visit Lassen Volcanic NP (California), Redwood NP (California), and Crater Lake NP (Oregon). Not as cool and sexy as Yosemite or Olympic, but these are places that my wife and I want to visit, We are also thinking of skipping an Alaska cruise so that we can spend a few weeks in the Alaska interior and spend some time in the large national parks in that state. I think we have done 36 national parks so far (there are 63 total right now). During our Solstice cruise next year (Sydney to Honolulu) we will visit American Samoa National Park which is the most remote national park from me (6,502 miles to be exact). That will be #37

LOL! I guess this thread is done....

You know, I take it partly back. Food at Jackson Hole can be very good. Same goes for the famous Jenny Lake Lodge at Grand Tetons. My food comments were really aimed at Yellowstone. I guess I know which mountain view you prefer. The first photo, you could be holding a drink. In the second photo, you could be holding bug spray. Aptly named Dusky Sound, New Zealand. Solstice, Dec 31, 2019 Evolution Basin. Kings Canyon National Park. Standing with backpacks. Sep 11 1997

Hi, Lois! Understandable. If you went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons--two of the crown jewels in the National Park system--and feel that way, then whom am I to argue?? While it is a matter of opinion on whether the scenery is better or not, there's no argument that the food and service is better at sea!

Our last two cruises on M class were Constellation (2022) and Summit (2024). They are both fine ships and I would sail on either of those two ships again in a heartbeat! I would let itinerary decide on which of the two ships to book. Celebrity Summit docked at Puerto Vallarta, May 1 2024